A vote for diversity: Election day action needed to break 'final glass ceiling,' say political experts

Political watchers are not surprised that there has never been a Black, Indigenous or woman of colour on Edmonton's city council. Changing that, they say, will take more than just openness to vote for diverse candidates. 

Edmonton city council was once the entry point for women in politics, producing figures like Edmonton's first female mayor Jan Reimer, as well as for men of colour starting their political careers.

But municipal politics has changed, said Alberta pollster and political commentator Janet Brown. 

"We should be coming into an era now where it's the domain of women of colour entering politics. But that's just not what's happening right now," Brown said. 

"It seems like when it comes to female representation, the representation of people of colour at the municipal level, we seem to either be stalling out or moving backwards."

As party politics creep into city politics and municipal positions become increasingly desirable, the cost for candidates of running a city council campaign has gone up, Brown said. 

"Some of the barriers that have always existed for marginalized people getting into provincial or federal politics, those things are starting to come, unfortunately, more and more into play in municipal politics as well."